debitagedigger,
No, it doesnt lift very high. I was able to get a (very) little more by making a new piece in the linkage. Didnt make much of a difference, and wasnt really worth doing. It was looking kinda worn anyway, so I made a new one that was just a little bit longer.
As far as taking it off and putting it on, I found that I needed the blade so much more often than the mower, I just left the deck off and bought an LT 1000 just for mowing.
I also took off the linkage to the sleeve hitch and use a winch to power the hitch and for other duties around the place. This picture shows the linkage underneath the GT some.
Hope this helps you a little.
Kurt